Volume 63, Number 1, Spring 2015 Articles I Feel the Need to Weed!: Maintaining an E-book Collection Jennifer Culley…….…………….…………………………………………………………………………………………..…..……2 Written in Light: Creating Access to Photographic Collections Suellyn Lathrop and Nancy Richey ………………………………………………………………………………………………….6 SELA/General News.......................................................................................................................... ...........................9 Library News…………………………………………………………………………………………………..……...10 Personnel News………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14 Book Reviews Refugitta of Richmond The Wartime Recollections, Grave and Gay, of Constance Cary Harrison Review by Dr. Carol Walker Jordan………………………………………………………………………………………………… 16 The Political career of W. Kerr Scott: The Squire from Haw River Review by Keith Gorman…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16 Charles Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance Review by Melinda Matthews………………………………………………………………………………………………………..17 Race and Ethnicity in Arkansas: New Perspectives Review by Dr. Carol Walker Jordan………………………………………………………………………………………………….18 Beyond Rosie, A Documentary History of Women and World War II Review by Dr. Carol Walker Jordan………………………………………………………………………………………………….19 The Antipedo Baptists of Georgetown South Carolina, 1710-2010 Review by Dr. Carol Walker Jordan………………………………………………………………………………………………….20 The Diary of Nannie Gaskins Williams: A Southern Woman’s Story of Rebellion and Reconstruction, 1863-1890 Review by Dr. Carol Walker Jordan………………………………………………………………………………………………….20 Regular Features Guidelines for Submission and Author Instructions………………………………………………………………………….………23 Editorial Staff & State Representatives………………………………………………………………………….…........................... 24. Volume 63, No. 1, Spring 2015 1 I Feel the Need, the Need to Weed! : Maintaining an E-book Collection Jennifer Culley Jennifer Culley is the Acquisitions Librarian for the University Libraries at the University of Southern Mississippi. She can be reached at [email protected]. Libraries and library collections are evolving. Formats are With advances in technology, formats of materials obtained changing as technology advances, and physical libraries are by libraries are changing. Many items that were bought in expanding into an ever increasing digital world. Acquiring print are now available in an electronic format. Electronic more materials in several different formats, including books, electronic journals, and streaming video are in electronic brings on the issue of what to do with it all. increasingly high demand. Libraries are trying to keep up Anyone, or any entity, that collects books in print or with demand for these items from the accelerating numbers electronic format will eventually come to the realization of distance students or students who desire the accessibility that their space is finite. In order to acquire new materials and instant access these formats provide. Although many they must either expand their space or do that horrible “four resources are being switched to, or only offered in, letter word”…weed. The word itself sends shivers down electronic format there will always be a place for print the backs of librarians everywhere. How can any self- materials in libraries. respecting librarian get rid of precious materials? If money was no issue libraries everywhere would continue to build There are many advantages to electronic books: they take or acquire additional virtual storage space to avoid up no physical shelf space; they cannot wear out, nor can discarding something that may be valuable to some user they be damaged, lost or stolen by patrons. They do not sometime in the future. need to be re-shelved, are never overdue, and titles rarely go out of print. Peter Spitzform (2011) explains in his Space, either physical or virtual, is not the only reason to article “Patron-Driven Acquisition: Collecting as if Money remove materials from collections. Technology and and Space Mean Something” that an advantage to science subject areas are advancing so rapidly that the switching from print is that “electronic books may well information in those materials becomes outdated quickly. help libraries manage their collections less expensively, and Should these be left on the shelf or in collections with acquiring only those specific titles that patrons want, rather incorrect information forever? This could be damaging for than purchasing all those that we think patrons might students who use them and are not aware they are outdated. someday need, will certainly reduce the footprint of the It is unnecessary to keep all old editions of a work after print collections” (p. 22), slowing the expansion and aiding new editions have been released; unless they are very rare in creating space on the shelves. items, older editions are outdated and take up precious shelf and virtual space. There are many issues that need to be E-books have been around since the 1970s, beginning with taken into consideration when weeding. Having a good Project Gutenberg, but have only really grown in popularity collection development and weeding policy is a must for all in the last several years. Although Project Gutenberg was types of libraries. Researcher Ian McEwen (2012) advises the first provider of e-books the term “electronic book” was that “weeding requires a small time commitment, some coined earlier in 1968 by a professor at Brown University, knowledge of what to look for, and a willingness to let go Andries Van Dam. More libraries became aware of e- of the deadwood” (pp. 33-34). Despite the work involved, books and their capabilities in the late 1990’s with weeding is very beneficial to the health of a library’s netLibrary launching their Internet-based e-book service, collection. and in 2004 Google Books was released (Cheek and Hartel, 2012). Since then software applications, tablets and phones Most libraries are hesitant to weed their collections, and it have made accessing e-books increasingly easier for users. has been so for many years. John Berry (2013) in his article “The Weeding War” states that “careless weeding of However, during this early startup of electronic books library collections has been the source of tremendous many libraries did not have the technology to allow users to misunderstanding, disruption, bad publicity, and all-too- access the e-book, because it, as well as the technology to frequently, the departure of library directors. […] Weeding access the e-books were very expensive. Platforms to view is controversial” (p. 10). Libraries must overcome the panic the e-books could also potentially add ongoing yearly of throwing something away, and discard delicately to maintenance fees to already strapped budgets. Some avoid a panic in their patrons. This is an ongoing issue, and patrons resisted the technology, in part because they prefer the idea of more is better does not always hold true. the print materials. They were not true Luddites, but they Weeding is a necessary part of collection management and found the platforms difficult to navigate, and prefer the not only applies to print materials but also includes simplicity of reading traditional books. There are also electronic books. many subject areas that lend themselves better to print such as arts and architecture, leading publishers to publish more 2 The Southeastern Librarian in print and reducing the number of resources in electronic to preserve e-book content in the best possible format” (p. format in these areas as opposed to other subject areas. 134). E-books allow users to have instant access to materials in As e-book collections grow, so does the need for a weeding or outside the library 24/7. Currently, there are several policy. A literature review did not result in much avenues to obtaining e-books for libraries: libraries can information about weeding e-books. This could be for purchase them through subscription services where they several reasons. Most likely is that DDA programs and e- can get large collections of materials by subject matter, books in general are just now really taking off, especially in they can order single titles or implement a demand driven small or underfunded libraries. Libraries and patrons are e-book acquisitions program. A Demand Driven excited about all of the electronic books that they now have Acquisitions (DDA) model or a Patron Driven Acquisitions access to, or could have access to, and are instead focusing (PDA) model are both e-book programs that provide large on how to build their collections. Some programs are still amounts of e-books without a huge upfront fee. Only the small at this time, but will grow in the foreseeable future. items that are used are paid for. The patrons choose an e- Libraries may not be thinking about future issues, but are book and “check it out” or “borrow” it, and these are the concentrating on the here and now. At the moment, space only ones the library will pay for. It is a fantastic return on may not be a concern and the material coming in is all investment when every e-book purchased is assured to have current, but what happens 5-10 years down the road when at least one use, and it increases patron involvement in these materials are no longer current or if libraries continue collection decisions. A comparative study by Kay Downey to suffer cuts in their materials budgets? et al. (2014), about print books and DDA e-book acquisition and use discovered that there is “some evidence While many vendors of subscription